Natural Selection
by rogueinker
Summary: Complete Minerva is suffering from a side effect of her animagi form. The one man whose help she desperately desires is avoiding her. What to do? With Headmaster Dippet’s intervention, Minerva and Albus discover the cure.
1. Natural Selection

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Natural Selection

by rogueinker

Disclaimer: No infringement is intended. Only using for personal amusement.

Summary: Minerva has begun to suffer from a side effect of her animagi form. Unfortunately, the one man whose help she desperately desires is avoiding her. What to do? With Headmaster Dippet's timely intervention, Minerva and Albus discover that the direct approach is usually the best and only solution. Complete

  


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The empty seat at the high table drew at least one concerned glance. Headmaster Dippet narrowed his eyes at it willing the chair to reveal the whereabouts of its usual occupant. 

"That chair has sat vacant at far too many meals lately." The remark was made to no one in particular, but because he was sitting to Dippet's left side, Albus Dumbledore heard both the remark and the reproving way it was spoken.

"Minerva informed me last week that she had started working on her lesson plans for next year and -"

"Albus, I know how dedicated she is but no one, I repeat no one, needs to do lesson plans this early. The Christmas holiday has only begun. She has the entirety of summer to complete it." Dippet poked at his lamb chops.

"She has meals delivered to her quarters. She is not starving herself of that I am sure."

"Be that as it may, after our meal, go see to her well being personally."

"Perhaps, one of the female professors would be a better choice."

"You are my deputy and I order you to seek her out."

"I ... I should not ... I mean, what if it were some female affliction, Armando?" Dumbledore's voice took on a light airiness that did not fool Dippet at all. "I, a lifetime bachelor, would know nothing of such things."

"You evade badly. If you are to be headmaster, that is a skill you need to cultivate." Dippet took a roll and began to butter it. "You might as well confess now, Albus. I will ferret it out of you eventually."

"There is nothing to confess to." Dumbledore protested.

"Ever since the start of this year I have noticed that you limit your interactions with Minerva to the barest minimum required of you as both my deputy and as a fellow teacher." Dippet poured himself some pumpkin juice. "Quite the departure from your behavior when first she began here a year ago. As I recall, you were then the model of solicitousness and courtesy."

"You are accusing me of dereliction in my duties?"

"No, never" Dippet turned in his seat to face his deputy. "I am, however, curious to know why your hackles are raised at the very mention of Minerva. Do not waste breath, energy or time denying it."

Dumbledore did not reply for a time. Dippet patiently waited him out. The high table slowly emptied as the other teachers went about their day. Soon, the headmaster and deputy were left sitting alone in the massive hall. Dumbledore looked around once verifying that there was no one around. 

"It is not my hackles that are raised. When I see her, my ... my body comes alive. It is nigh near uncontrollable." Albus brooded over his goblet of juice. "The longer I am in her company, the more violent my need becomes."

Despite the shock that Dumbledore's words evoked, Dippet found voice enough to encourage him further. "Go on."

"Albus of the Light that's what people call me. Little do they realize I am not so pure of thought where Minerva is concerned." Albus looked at his friend and superior. "I am afraid that I will do something rash - compel her to be with me, force her to lie with me. I could have her do anything I wished leaving her with no memories or scars to endure thereafter. It would be so very easy."

"These uncontrollable urges started just this year?"

"Yes." Dumbledore's voice lowered to a whisper, wistful and soft. "When first I met her, I thought her very attractive. She is an impressive woman by all convention. The more we worked together the more I admired her. I had even thought to speak to her of a more formal acquaintance. I wanted to court her properly."

"And what did she say to that?"

"I did not have a chance to ask her. If you recall, I was called away before the end of last term." Dumbledore slammed his goblet down. "What choice did I have but to go!"

"Yes, the bothersome gnat called Grindelwald."

"When I returned at the end of summer, she was gone from here. I heard through mutual friends that while visiting her family, Minerva admitted to having a suitor. A suitor significant enough to warrant a serious courtship."

"I recall now that I did hear some gossip about that."

"It is not gossip. It is quite serious. The word in her family is that a wedding is being planned for this summer."

"The word?"

"According to one of her cousins, who my brother Aberforth knows of, Minerva said repeatedly that her mind was finally settled. Her mother is said to dote on her eldest daughter. It is she who has spread the news of this suitor to anyone who would listen."

"An engagement has not been announced. Minerva does not behave as one affianced and -"

"Armando, when first she discussed her lesson plans with me, she said that she wanted to prepare her plans in the event that another teacher had to take her classes." Dumbledore shook his head. "That can only mean that she intends to accept the marriage offer, if she has not already done so. I expect this term to be her last here."

The two men sat silently each one lost in their own thoughts. The headmaster stood up and put a reassuring hand on Dumbledore's shoulder. "I understand, Albus. I will see to Minerva myself."

"Thank you, Armando." Dumbledore slowly rose to his feet. 

The two left the hall. They parted later as Dumbledore went to his rooms to brood while the headmaster went off to find Minerva. As they parted, Dippet's mind pondered his deputy's situation. He had known Dumbledore as first his student, then as his fellow teacher and now as a trusted friend. Dippet had often wished that the younger man had the reward of a woman's love as compensation for all that the wizarding world asked of him. It seems that was not to be. 

He found Minerva in her office. He knocked once then twice but heard no answer. He knew she was within as the portrait hanging by her door had said she was inside. He tried the doorknob and found it unlocked. He opened the door and stepped inside. The sight that greeted him was one he would remember all his days. 

A hellacious fire roared in the fireplace. The room was stiflingly hot. On a rocking chair, legs under her, sat Minerva McGonagall wrapped in a thick woolen plaid blanket. She was surrounded by stacks upon stacks of ancient books. Her dark hair hung in a loose plait down her back. A tray of food lay undisturbed on her desk. So intent was she on the thick book in front of her that Dippet's entrance went unnoticed until Dippet cleared his throat loudly.

"Headmaster!" Minerva exclaimed. "I didn't hear you come in."

"You were rather engrossed in that book." Dippet narrowed his eyes and read the title of the book _Animagi Connections : Studies and Theories_. On the spine of the book he spied the author's name - Keirana McGonagall. "Something you want to tell me, Minerva?"

"About ?"

"Despite the inferno raging in that hearth, your cheeks are red and, even from here, I can hear your teeth chattering."

Minerva closed the book. She frowned in concentration trying to decide on a course of action. 

"You have not dined with us and no one has seen much of you this holiday. I grew concerned." Dippet gestured widely at the fireplace and the books. "Then I find this."

"It isn't what it looks like."

"You are not at death's door?" 

"Hardly. I am poised on the gates of paradise." Seeing the headmaster's curious regard she motioned for him to take a chair and sit down. "Let me explain."

"Before we start, please lower the fire. I can barely breathe for the heat." Dippet summoned a house elf for a large pitcher of water.

Minerva doused the fire. The elf returned shortly. Dippet settled into his chair expectantly. Minerva wrapped the blanket tighter about her. "As you know transfiguration skills run strongly in my family. But even stronger is the potential for animagi transformation, more so among the females. We are predisposed to becoming animagi almost from birth. Those of us who pursue that path become highly attuned with our animagi selves. As we age, the influence extends even to our human bodies."

"Preternatural senses and the like?" Dippet asked.

Minerva nodded. "For males the changes are beneficial - faster reflexes, heightened instincts. But for females, the influence is rather more personal." Minerva stopped and took a long breath. "Human beings have control over their more basic drives. Animals less so. Nature rules them in all things especially when it comes to ... to reproduction and the instinct to survive."

Minerva paused letting her words impart their implied meaning to the headmaster. It took less than a minute for the message to be understood. Armando's head swivelled left to right from Minerva, to the fire and then to the books. The pieces of the puzzle were fitting together far too neatly now. _Cats reproduce when ... when the females experience the heat. Merlin! She's in heat. That is why she's getting married._ He could not quite meet her eyes. He was the headmaster and for him to think of his staff in any sexual connotation was bad form. "Minerva, you should be in bed, I mean, in your rooms to ... to -" 

Minerva smiled. "According to my mother, I am close but the condition is not upon me yet. I'm having alternating periods of chill and heat which is a precursor to the full heat. I expect the worse later tonight."

His voice came out an octave higher than usual. His face was red with embarassment. "Should not your fiance be here to uh, ah, give you his attentions? Is he expected later today?"

"Fiance?" Minerva asked blankly.

"The rumors said that you were getting married."

"That is rather premature seeing that I don't even know if the man I do want will have me." Minerva said ruefully. "Let me set your mind at ease, Armando. This condition will pass. It is not fatal merely uncomfortable and embarassing. I will simply confine myself to my quarters for a day or two. I will be fine, you'll see."

"You are not to be married then?"

"No."

"For what reason would your mother spread the news about your impending nuptials?"

Minerva clasped her hands on her lap seemingly nervous. "This past summer I began to have strange symptoms. I consulted with my mother. She informed me that, in the females of my family at least, when the female meets the man who is in all ways her equal or match, the heat cycle is triggered. The cycle slowly builds over a few months. It's all instinctive you see. The person is hardly conscious of it until the heat truly begins to be felt. Once I told her my symptoms, my mother was ecstatic. You have no notion of how long she has despaired of seeing me wed. She would not listen when I insisted that there was no man who had expressed any interest in me. No one at all but I had wished ..." Her voice trailed off into silence.

The wheels inside Dippet's head were whirling madly though his face showed only impassive calm. "Were the man whom you desire to express his interest, would you allow ... like to have his, ah, erm, help?"

A delicate blush filled her cheeks. "I could not turn him away. I would need him too much."

"Tell me true, is Albus the man you desire?"

"Am I so transparent?" Minerva stood up suddenly. She turned to stare at the fire. "To my regret, I want him. By his actions of late, he has made clear to me that he does not return my interest. He avoids me and, when we do meet, his gaze is indifferent, his words without warmth."

Dippet rested his head in his hands. "Children, my children, what am I to do with you two?"

"Pardon?" asked Minerva perplexed.

"Return to your rooms, please." Dippet stood up and walked towards the door. " I will send Albus to you shortly. I ask only that you hear him out."

"I will not BEG for his ... his affections just to ease my condition!"

"Minerva, place your trust in my hands, you will not be the one doing the begging. His feelings for you are far from what you perceive them to be. On my word, I will not mention your condition to him. That is for you to tell, if you so choose." With that the headmaster swept down the long corridor humming a happy tune. _This will have a happy endings one way or another. Sometimes a person has to be shoved off the tower before he can learn to fly._

A few minutes later, Dumbledore opened the door to let the headmaster in. Dippet rushed in chattering as he went. "Albus, put on your best robes. Be quick about it. We will have to pass by the gardens and get some flowers first."

"Robes, flowers, what are you on about?"

Dippet looked him up and down critically. "When was the last time you trimmed your beard? The dark blue robes you had on at the opening feast should do." 

"Armando! What are you doing?" Dippet grabbed Dumbledore by the arm and led him into the bedroom.

"I am making you presentable! That is what I am doing." Dippet threw open the wardrobe and began to rummage inside.

"I don't remember any Ministry functions scheduled for today." Dumbledore murmured. "The calendar is clear I'm sure of it."

"If you speak your words favorably then you may find yourself quite occupied." Dippet pulled out the dark blue robes and matching inside shirt. "Go change into this and quickly. Go!"

Ummoved by Dippet's urgency, Albus crossed his arms defiantly. "What is all this about?"

Dippet looked at his friend, exasperation won out over any other expression on his face. "In a few minutes you are scheduled to pay court to a fair lady."

"I cannot replace Minerva with some other woman as easily as I can snap my fingers! What kind of man do you think I am?"

"A wise man who will not let another opportunity slip through his fingers." Dippet replied. "Listen to me. Minerva is not engaged and never has been."

"But ... but Aberforth said -"

"She is anticipating a very specific suitor. That suitor is you and none other. In truth, you have been in her thoughts most of the summer." Dippet grinned. "Get dressed and go to her. You two have much to discuss." 

In record time, Albus had bathed, trimmed his beard and put on fresh robes. His long strides were quick as he covered the distance to Minerva's quarters. He paused in front of the door to gather himself. He clutched a bouquet of flowers in one hand.

Armando gave his shoulder a squeeze. "Good favor smile upon you, Albus." 

"You are certain about her feelings for me?" Quickly, Dumbledore wiped the perspiration from his brow. Never in all the perilous situations he had ever encountered, could he remember being this nervous. "If you are not, tell me now before I make a fool of myself entirely."

"Talk to her, Albus, go on."

Albus knocked once. A smiling Minerva opened the door dressed in flattering robes of pale lilac and cream. She presented an altogether fetching vision. "Hello, Albus, headmaster."

Dippet cleared his throat and said in a formal tone, "This young man has come to make his intentions plain. Will you welcome his suit?"

"I would be honored." Minerva held out her hand. Albus took her hand and kissed it. "Come in."

Albus advanced and was through the door when he noticed that Dippet was remaining outside the door. "Er, Armando, the rules say that the first visit must be chaperoned."

"True that is the first rule but I am afraid I have other matters to attend to at this time."

Albus spared a quick glance at Minerva then turned beseechingly eyes to the headmaster. "I ... we really ought not to be left alone. Something untoward may happen. I would have nothing mar Minerva's reputation."

"I thrust my reputation into your hands with complete confidence, Albus." Minerva looked innocently at him. "Do we truly need a chaperone? We are after all both adults."

Minerva did not wait for an answer. Instead, Dippet found her door closing shut. The last thing he heard before the lock clicked into place was Albus saying, "It's a bit hot in here, Minerva."


	2. The Power of a Word

**  


Chapter 2

  
_  


The Power of a Word

  
_**

They sat side by side on a small divan in Minerva's sitting room. Albus never having embarked on a formal courtship was at a loss as to what was expected, how to proceed.

"Albus, do you know any poems?" Minerva suggested.

"Well, I did learn a few when I was young. It is remarkable what one retains in memory." Albus began to recite a nautical verse.

Minerva cleared her throat audibly. "Do you know any romantic verses?"

Albus colored slightly then paused as he scanned his memory for any romantic fragments about love and courtship. "Yes, I think I may have one that would be quite fitting."

__

Come to me in my dreams, and then  
By day I shall be well again!  
For so the night will more than pay  
The hopeless longing of the day.

As if by their own accord, Albus' hands took possession of hers. His grasp was light yet still her hands felt the masculine strength of his form. 

__

Come, as thou cam'st a thousand times,  
A messenger from radiant climes,  
And smile on thy new world, and be  
As kind to others as to me!

Albus paused in his recitation. He fidgeted on the seat. He crossed one leg over the other but that did little to ease his growing discomfort. "This will not do, not at all." 

"What will not do?"

"This arrangement." Without further elaboration, Dumbledore stood up and withdrew his wand from within his robes. With a quick flick of his wrist, two armchairs floated to the middle of the room just in front of the fireplace. "There, much better. Have a seat, Minerva."

Minerva looked at the armchairs and was puzzled. The chairs sat back to back. "Albus, should not the chairs be facing each other?"

"No. Please take that seat and I shall take the other." Dumbledore settled himself comfortably in his chair. He breathed deeply letting the tension of the last hour seep from his bones. He could do nothing yet about his aroused state but at the very least he need not subject Minerva to his desires, just yet. He could hear Minerva settling herself in her armchair behind him.

"Well, now what?" Minerva asked. A current of amusement ran underneath her casual tone.

"Now I can think straight. I believe I was on the third -"

"You couldn't think before?" She interrupted.

"Do you not yet realize that within my sight, you provide for my mind a path to distraction and immoderate thoughts?"

"I see. If I have caused you any discomfort, do forgive me." Had Albus seen the barely-there smile that formed upon her lips at his confession, he might have thought to leave sooner rather than later.

"The weakness is entirely mine." Albus cleared his throat and began the third stanza. Albus heard the armchair behind him squeak in mild protest. 

__

Or, as thou never cam'st in sooth,  
Come now, and let me dream it truth,  
And part my hair, and kiss my brow,  
And say, My love why sufferest thou?

"Minerva, you're dousing the fire?" From the periphery of his sight, Albus watched the flames subside to glowing embers.

Her chair squeaked again. He could tell that she was standing up as her next words came from behind and above him. "I find that my chill has left me, my dear Albus."

Albus took a moment to catch his breath. His lips silently formed her words again 'my dear Albus'. It was for him very like a caress upon his soul. The rustling of robes, hers not his, returned his mind to the present. "Where did I leave off?" 

"Parched, I believe," came her reply. Two flutes of red wine floated in their general direction from the sideboard. "As the poet has been so giving, so must I reciprocate."

Albus caught his glass easily. He held the glass aloft admiring the deep russet of the wine. He felt rather than saw Minerva behind him. In one elegant hand, her wine glass clinked against his. So intent was he on observing her slender hand close up, that he did not feel the strand of loosened hair that brushed against his right shoulder nor did he take note of the admiring, loving glances sweeping across his own profile. 

"If I had known the rewards I could have anticipated, I would have begun this wooing earlier." Albus drank a good swallow of his wine. The wine triggered a warming sensation he felt to his fingertips. "Forgive me, I should have made my intentions known before ... before I left. We have wasted so much time." 

Her response seemed a long time in coming. His ears strained to hear her reply. He heard her deep intake of breath. "The past is just that past. Your intentions are now plain and I ... I need to tell you -" 

"I realize that my intentions must come as a surprise. Please take all the time you need to consider my suit." Albus took another swallow. _I will be patient. I will wait until she is ready and not before. Patience is a virtue. Patience is a - _A sudden touch across his neck derailed his thoughts. _Was that her fingers just then? She knows not what she does to me. Control, you must control. _

"Thank you for that, Albus, but time is not an issue. You see there are other considerations." Minerva's voice became tinged with the Scottish lilt that his ears found so pleasing. 

"What other considerations?" His grip tightened imperceptibly on the wine glass. "Will your family object to me? I am a good deal older than you. I am not a rich man but -"

"You are rich in honor, courtesy and courage. My happiness does not rest on material wealth." Minerva chuckled. Her hand weaved its way through his still auburn hair. "There will be no other for me, no other in your place."

With a sigh, he leaned his head back. "What have I done to deserve you?"

As he reclined fully, he found himself looking up at a Minerva he had never seen before. Her eyes were intent. Her heated gaze reached deep to the core of his being searching for an answering flame to match her own. His fingers lost their purchase on his glass. Its shattering crack against the stone floor went unheard. 

Albus stared back - blue eyes to green. His lips and throat were dry. He ran his tongue across his lips. By that simple act did Minerva surrender herself completely to the primal drive consuming her senses. Her mouth silently formed the syllables of his name, once then twice. At that very moment, Albus became conscious of feeling what she felt. It was as if he were the one left gasping, the one overwhelmed by twin pulses of fervent desire and sharp need. For several minutes they did nothing but savor the feelings ricocheting between them. 

Compelled to sudden action, Albus broke eye contact first. On her knees with eager almost predatory eyes, Minerva followed his movements. He stood up and moved to her side. Wordlessly, his fingers entangled themselves in her lustrous hair. Her face tilted up to his his. He smiled as delight flashed in her eyes. 

In times past, his blood had thrummed in his veins whenever a wrong had to be righted, but now he was waging a far different battle and he was not certain which outcome he favored. _ I must touch her. What could one kiss hurt? Just the one then I will stop and leave._

Gently, he cupped her face. Her hands grasped his forearms. As he lowered his face to hers, he felt her fingers press hard against his arms. Their bodies leaned into the other. Their eyes closed. Their lips met. 

As their kiss grew more passionate, her arms slipped to his broad shoulders and wound their way about his neck. Wanting to feel her lenght against his, he encircled her waist with his arms then drew her easily off the chair. Chest to chest, thigh to thigh, they gloried in their mutual awareness. He nuzzled her neck, planting wet kisses as he went. At times, here and there, he whispered the last stanza of the poem.

__

Come to me in my dreams, and then  
By day I shall be well again!

Minerva rested her head against his chest. His arms tighthened around her unwilling to let her go just yet.

  
_For so the night will more than pay  
The hopeless longing of the day._

She could hear his rapid heartbeat and feel the deep breaths he took. "I must go now, Minerva."

"So soon?"

With herculean effort, he stepped away from her embrace. "I will come back tomorrow. This was only the first day and tomorrow we should -"

His words faded into a ragged whisper. Before him, Minerva had let her robes slide off her shoulders and to the floor. Albus could not help follow the progress of her robes down her slim body. To his eyes were revealed a satiny, light green night gown cut just above her knee. The gown hid enough and revealed far too much - the long column of her neck, the gentle swell of her breasts against the clinging fabric, her shapely legs bared to his view. 

"The day never forestalls the coming of night, does it? The night must come. The day must yield. It is as nature planned it to be." She closed the distance between them. "Stay."

Albus swallowed nervously. He averted his eyes. "Minerva! I ... I do not need some ... some reward for ... nor do I expect any. I should not have kissed you. I accept full blame." 

"I see I need make my intentions very plain." Minerva touched his cheek then with both hands drew his face downwards. She held his gaze. Her voice descended to a sultry whisper. "I long for you, Albus. Stay." 

His hands clenched into fists by his side. His instincts threatened his tenuous control. "Tomorrow, I will owl your parents to ask for their blessing. We can be married in a fortnight if you like. Until then, we should not do anything rash."

Albus began to back away. Minerva clasped his arm in a firm grip. Upon her touch, he felt a tidal wave of feeling wash over him - affection, lust, acceptance, need. His knees felt close to buckling so strong were the emotions assailing him.

Minerva let go of his arm then breathed deeply. When she spoke, her tone was devoid of the teasing sultriness that had come close to shredding his resolve. Her voice was firm with an underlying sense of urgency. "You have heard of the phenomenon of how some animagi are affected by the animal instincts of their forms?" 

"It is a theory that an animagi experiences -" The blush that colored her cheeks silenced his further comment. He became aware of the unnatural heat radiating from her arms to his and the unusual brightness of her eyes. "It is not a theory for you, is it?"

Minerva, suffused by equal measure of desire and shame, could only nod her head. A portentous silence stretched between them as both sought to master their individual emotional storms. _Should I have told him? Why doesn't he say something._

After an eternity, Minerva picked up her robes and covered herself. "I have been forward and offended you. I am more sorry than you could ever know." 

__

No more sorry than I. Albus straightened himself. "You have done nothing wrong, Minerva. You could not help acting upon a natural impulse. I can only imagine the strain you must be under."

"Please, please leave, Albus." 

"What of your condition?"

"It will subside after a few days." Minerva replied. 

"If it presents such a ... a discomfort, perhaps another man would be willing to -"

Albus never finished his sentence as Minerva's hand shot out and landed a hard slap on his cheek. With stormy eyes she railed at him. "How dare you?! You ignorant, self-important cretin! Get out! Get OUT!"

Around Albus several objects began to whirl in the air. He ducked barely in time as a chair whisked over his head followed by a large vase. With alacrity, he backed away from the furious witch. Dodging madly across the room he reached the door. Something heavy crashed against the door just as he was closing it shut behind him. He sagged against the door trying to catch his breath. _I am never getting married, ever. _

Albus was close to his quarters when he spied the headmaster heading his way. "Albus, what are you doing here?"

"My visit was cut short." Albus replied evenly.

"Indeed? I thought Minerva had specified a few days. Perhaps I misheard." 

The headmaster abruptly found himself pinned by the throat against the wall by one very upset deputy headmaster. "You knew and never said a word! You sent me to her as ... as some sacrifice to appease her ... her carnal apetites!"

"Carnal? Sacrifice?" Dippet sputtered. 

"Having one such as yourself for a friend, what need have I for enemies?" Albus let the headmaster go. 

"You left her be?! How could you?"

Through gritted teeth, Albus said, "It was not easy. I cannot believe that you would condone such goings on here."

"Condone? Of course not!" Dippet replied with a healthy dose of indignation. 

Not caring that they were in a hallway prone to be overheard by anyone passing by, Albus released all the frustration and anger he had bottled up inside. "How could you have led me to believe that ... that she had tender feelings for me?"

"She admitted her feelings to me and -"

Albus cut him off with a wave of his hand. "Feelings engendered by a primitive connection to her animagi form. Were she not being influenced by that connection, I doubt that she would feel anything for me."

Dippet looked on in shock at his friend. Quickly, he drew his wand and pointed it at Albus. "Petrificus totalis."

The headmaster clucked under his breath as he walked around the immobile form of one Albus Dumbledore. "Albus, I truly believe that you have been cursed one too many times. Your brain has ceased to function normally."

Albus' eyes gazed malevolently at the shorter wizard. _Retribution will be swift and merciless, Armando. You have my word on that._

"Let me explain the situation in words that you will understand." Dippet stopped his slow circuit. "You are an utter idiot. I can only guess at what you said to her. Did you lose your temper? Blink once for yes and twice for no."

Unable to do anything else in the interim, Albus decided to humor the man. There would be time enough later to make him rue the high-handed treatment he was meting out. Albus blinked twice.

"Did she offer herself to you?"

A long blink.

"Need I describe to a grown man such as yourself those times when it is opportune to throw civility out the door?!" Dippet ignored the death glare Albus had aimed at him. "When a woman such as Minerva deigns to even look in a man's direction, said man should pray once for his good fortune, then grab hold and never let go."

"Tell me you did not rebuff her thereby heaping insult upon her dignity, battering her pride and shaming her further still?" 

Two blinks then another.

"I take that to mean that you did not intend to insult her but such were your words and actions perceived. Am I right?"

One blink.

"I see things clear now. I take back my previous opinion of you, Albus, you are not an idiot. You are instead an imbecile!" Dippet sighed. "There is only solution to this dilemma." Dippet levitated Albus behind him as he approached Minerva's door. Albus frantically blinked twice repeatedly but to no avail. 

Dippet cast a reveal spell upon Minerva's door. "It seems that she has warded her door against you, actually against any man, wait, any male of any species. She must be truly angry."

Dippet looked at the door and then at Albus. "In some way, my friend, you need repair this sad affair."

Dumbledore blinked twice with ferocious intensity and rapid frequency. Whether his response was in regards to their friendship or the need for repairs, Dippet did not know nor acknowledge. Dippet muttered. "How am I going to get you inside?" 

Dumbledore's eyelids began to flutter incessantly. 

"Do not argue with me, Albus." Dippet looked up at his paralyzed deputy. "You are the reason she is in this condition and perforce you must be the one to give her succor."

Dumbledore's eyes widened.

Dippet grinned. "Ah, she did not get that far in her explanation before you made your exit, did she?"

Two blinks.

"The condition, the heat, is triggered when an animagi, a female one, meets the male who is her match. Minerva was unaware of this event occurring. She began to notice her symptoms this past summer. Her mother quickly realized what the symptoms meant as females in their family apparently endure the cycle with some regularity."

Dumbledore's eyes looked close to bursting.

"Minerva told her mother about you. For that reason, her mother began spreading the news of the wedding, as surely, a wedding would follow the cycle's end." Dippet clasped his hands behind his back. "Minerva thought you indifferent to her. Your behavior since the beginning of the school year reinforced this belief. She was not planning to inform you of her condition. It was only after I discovered it, did she entertain the notion of revealing it to you."

Albus' eyes were closed, tight shut. Dippet uttered "Finite incantatem!" 

Albus fell limply to his knees. He said hoarsely, "Calling me an imbecile is a compliment."

After a minute, Albus stood up and made to knock on Minerva's door. His hand never touched the door. He was flung bodily away from the door.

"The cycle has begun it seems," Dippet said quietly. "And without you."

"What should I do? I need to apologize." Dumbledore began to pace and talk to himself. After a few minutes, he exclaimed, "Wait, she may have warded the door but perhaps not the windows!"

"Albus, if you are contemplating -" Dumbledore rushed off before the headmaster could finish saying anything. Dippet followed at a much more sedate pace.

The headmaster found Albus conjuring a large cushion underneath Minerva's window in the tower. "In the event, she throws me out and I am unconscious, this will insure I have a soft fall."

"Unconscious?"

"I am not leaving her presence until she hears me out. I have wronged her grievously." Albus replied. 

Dippet noted the look of sheer determination in Albus' eyes. "Well, I shall leave you to it then. I trust that this matter will be resolved?"

"I will have her forgiveness. Whatsoever she demands of me, is hers." Albus vowed. 

With that said, Albus levitated himself higher and higher. Dippet watched his ascent until Albus was on level with her window. Her window opened at a wave of Albus' wand. As soon as he saw Albus safely inside her rooms, he returned to the castle. 

Albus stepped over the window sill into an empty sitting room. His eyes scanned the room. A heavy bureau lay propped against the door, a solid bar to any intruder. Scattered about were shards of pottery and glass, the remnant victims of Minerva's wrath. He heard a low moan. It came from a door to his left. Cautiously, he moved towards it. He heard Minerva moan once more, louder and more desperate.

He opened the door a crack. Candles, dozens of them, bathed the inner room in soft pastel glows. His eyes adjusted to the dimness. His eyes moved about Minerva's bedroom. He saw her on her bed, writhing under a thin blanket. His own excitement rose the longer he watched her.

Shortly he berated himself severely. _You are not a voyeur. You are here to apologize nothing more._ He opened the door and stepped inside. He slowly approached the bed fighting to keep his resolve and not be hypnotized by the beguiling view. She was female incarnate and that very femaleness called out to him like a siren song.

He kneeled by her bed close but careful not to touch her. He called to her. "Minerva, Minerva."

"Hmm." Her eyes remained closed. 

He touched her hand to let her know of his presence. Her skin was hot to the touch but also soft and irresistibly smooth. His fingers lingered upwards from her hand, past her wrist to her elbow. Minerva moaned and moved closer to his side of the bed. As she did so, her blanket shifted revealing her unclothed state.

__

I should not be here. Not with her like this. His mind accepted this but his hand did not. His hand moved upward pausing on her shoulder. 

Her eyes opened. "Albus?"

"Yes, Minerva." With his left hand, he smoothed a wayward strand of hair tucking it back behind her ear. She was about to say something but he quieted her lips with a finger. "I'm sorry, Minerva, for everything. I should have realized you were not the kind of woman to play games with a man and -"

Minerva playfully licked his finger. Albus groaned. "You do not make it easy to apologize. I am truly sorry, truly. Do you forgive me?"

In answer, she kissed his finger then said the one word that erased the months of uncertainty and indifference that had lain between them. "Stay."

Outside, it was fast approaching dusk. The sun, a thin ribbon of light over the horizon, bid adieu and good night. Darkness descended slowly. The crescent moon took its rightful place in the sky and the stars hid their brilliance no more.

Inside the darkened bedroom, Albus Dumbledore enfolded his future wife in his arms for the first time. Thereafter on their anniversary, Minerva always heard the words 'I love you' fall from her husband's lips three times as dusk settled over the world.

FIN

****

A/N: The poem is called Longing by Matthew Arnold circa 1860. To those of you who agitated for a sequel, I lay my insomnia entirely on your shoulders. I did not want to disappoint anyone let alone ruin anyone's virtue. If you liked the story or didn't like it, please review. I wrestled with different approaches before settling on what you just read. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. 


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